In the ongoing legal aftermath of Confederate monument removals following racial justice protests in 2020, courts continue to hand down significant rulings. The latest involved a ruling by the Georgia Court of Appeals in a case concerning the removal of a monument from downtown Decatur, the seat of DeKalb County.
The ruling, dating February 23 and based on a precedent from the state Supreme Court, was authored by Presiding Judge Sarah Doyle. Doyle concluded that while the Sons of Confederate Veterans organization, involved in similar litigation, did not have standing to sue as they were not community stakeholders, the individual citizen co-plaintiffs also named in the claims retained the ability to proceed with their lawsuits. Consequently, this case has now been referred back to the Superior Court of DeKalb County to establish whether it is barred by sovereign immunity.
Walker Chandler, the plaintiff-appellant counsel, has observed that these developments raise “interesting questions” about sovereign immunity. Particularly, in light of a 2020 ballot measure ratified by Georgia voters that facilitated the process for citizens to question the constitutionality of actions undertaken by the state.
Further details on this case can be found in this article on the Daily Report.